Method and system for crop recognition and boundary delineation

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method is provided for improving farm management by determining farm boundary delineations within a target geographic area based on crop recognition. The method includes evaluating the data using a classification algorithm to generate one or more line segments at an interface separating each pixel in at least one pair of adjacent pixels. It also includes connecting the one or more line segments to an adjacent line segment to form a boundary delineation. The method further includes generating a boundary delineation map including the boundary delineation as well as generating a farm management plan including the boundary delineation map and a recommended crop type. The farm management plan can be generated based on at least a type of vegetation present.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present invention generally relates to crop recognition and farmboundary delineation, and more particularly to analyzing satellite dataand historical planting patterns to determine boundary delineations.

Description of the Related Art

Farmers use a variety of methods to determine what crops to grow for agiven amount of land, especially as various factors effect cropselection. For example, environmental factors (e.g., climatecharacteristics, soil characteristics, weather, etc.) constrain cropselection, as certain crops must be planted at certain times of the yearand/or during specific climate conditions. In some instances, onlycertain types of crops and/or rotation patterns are feasible for aparticular plot of land to increase economic benefits. In addition,market conditions (e.g., market demands, resource availability, marketprices, etc.) often influence crop selection and acreage allocation(e.g., the amount of land devoted to a specific crop).

However, information related to farm boundaries is not readily availabledue to privacy and ownership concerns, making it difficult to assessacreage allocation that may be planted with a single crop. Some systemscan identify acreage that includes vegetation, however, such systemsmerely identify the general presence of vegetation and cannot identifyparticular crops that are planted within such acreage to delineateboundary lines between vegetated areas.

SUMMARY

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, acomputer-implemented method for improving farm management by determiningfarm boundary delineations within a target geographic area based on croprecognition. The method includes evaluating the data using aclassification algorithm to generate one or more line segments at aninterface separating each pixel in at least one pair of adjacent pixelswith the one or more line segments being representative of a portion ofa boundary delineation. It also includes connecting the one or more linesegments to an adjacent line segment to form a boundary delineation. Themethod further includes generating a boundary delineation map includingthe boundary delineation as well as generating a farm management planincluding the boundary delineation map and a recommended crop type. Thefarm management plan can be generated based on at least a type ofvegetation present.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a system forimproving farm management by determining farm boundary delineationswithin a target geographic area based on crop recognition is provided.The system includes memory storing computer code and data and one ormore inputs through which data for the target geographic area isreceived by the system. The system also includes one or more processorscoupled to memory, the one or more processors executing computer codeinstructing the one or more processors to operate as an analyzer toevaluate the data using a classification algorithm to generate one ormore line segments at an interface separating each pixel in at least onepair of adjacent pixels, the one or more line segments beingrepresentative of a portion of a boundary delineation, and a boundaryidentifier to connect the one or more line segments to an adjacent linesegment to form a boundary delineation, and generate a boundarydelineation map including the boundary delineation. The computer codecan also instruct the one or more processors to operate as a farmmanagement plan generator to generate a farm management plan includingthe boundary delineation map and a recommended crop type, the farmmanagement plan being generated based on at least a type of vegetationpresent.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a computerprogram product for improving farm management by determining farmboundary delineations within a target geographic area based on croprecognition is provided. The computer program product includes anon-transitory computer readable storage medium having programinstructions embodied therewith, the program instructions beingexecutable by a computer to cause the computer to perform a method thatincludes evaluating the data using a classification algorithm togenerate one or more line segments at an interface separating each pixelin at least one pair of adjacent pixels with the one or more linesegments being representative of a portion of a boundary delineation.The method further involves connecting the one or more line segments toan adjacent line segment to form a boundary delineation. The method alsoincludes generating a boundary delineation map including the boundarydelineation as well as generating a farm management plan including theboundary delineation map and a recommended crop type, the farmmanagement plan being generated based on at least a type of vegetationpresent.

These and other features and advantages will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof,which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following description will provide details of preferred embodimentswith reference to the following figures wherein:

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a processing system to which thepresent invention may be applied;

FIG. 2 is a boundary delineation map, in accordance with an embodimentof the with present invention;

FIG. 3 depicts satellite images having data that can be used in makingdeterminations for different parcels of land, in accordance with anembodiment of the with present invention;

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary system/method for determining boundarydelineations in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a block/flow diagram showing a system/method for determiningboundary delineations in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary cloud computing node in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary cloud computing environment in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 shows exemplary abstraction model layers, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention provides systems and methods to identify croptypes and/or determine boundary delineations by extracting and/orevaluating satellite data and historical planting patterns. In someembodiments, the present invention can be used for identifying andevaluating, for example, crop selection, crop rotation, resourceallocation, etc. In an embodiment, the systems and methods describedherein allow data input by a user and/or historical planting patternsrelated to multiple parcels of land to provide a comprehensive farmmanagement plan. In some embodiments, the present invention can be usedfor identifying boundary delineations using satellite data, such asnormalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values, whichdistinguishes land areas that include vegetation from non-vegetatedareas in addition to identifying varying crop types within vegetatedregions.

Exemplary applications/uses to which the present invention can beapplied include, but are not limited to: determining expected productionbased on yield and/or planted acreage, estimating geographic crop supplyto reduce demand/supply imbalance, updating land ownership databasesbased on boundary delineations, and minimizing insurance fraud. In someembodiments, the present invention may be used to generate farmmanagement plans. Farm management plans are crucial in the developmentof farmland. For example, farm management plans help to supportproduction management, such as meeting increased demands for a productwhile reducing production costs. In addition, farm management plansassist in maintaining quality of agricultural products and compliancewith agricultural standards. Determining boundary delineations isimportant in farm management plans, especially as land boundaries maynot be publically available due to privacy concerns, making estimatedyields of agricultural products difficult to determine.

Referring now to the drawings in which like numerals represent the sameor similar elements and initially to FIG. 1, an exemplary processingsystem 100 to which the present invention may be applied is shown inaccordance with one embodiment. The processing system 100 includes atleast one processor (CPU) 104 operatively coupled to other componentsvia a system bus 102. A cache 106, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 108, aRandom Access Memory (RAM) 110, an input/output (I/O) adapter 120, asound adapter 130, a network adapter 140, a user interface adapter 150,and a display adapter 160, are operatively coupled to the system bus102.

A first storage device 122 and a second storage device 124 areoperatively coupled to system bus 102 by the I/O adapter 120. Thestorage devices 122 and 124 can be any of a disk storage device (e.g., amagnetic or optical disk storage device), a solid state magnetic device,and so forth. The storage devices 122 and 124 can be the same type ofstorage device or different types of storage devices.

A speaker 132 is operatively coupled to system bus 102 by the soundadapter 130. A transceiver 142 is operatively coupled to system bus 102by network adapter 140. A display device 162 is operatively coupled tosystem bus 102 by display adapter 160.

A first user input device 152, a second user input device 154, and athird user input device 156 are operatively coupled to system bus 102 byuser interface adapter 150. The user input devices 152, 154, and 156 canbe any of a keyboard, a mouse, a keypad, an image capture device, amotion sensing device, a microphone, a device incorporating thefunctionality of at least two of the preceding devices, and so forth. Ofcourse, other types of input devices can also be used, while maintainingthe spirit of the present invention. The user input devices 152, 154,and 156 can be the same type of user input device or different types ofuser input devices. The user input devices 152, 154, and 156 are used toinput and output information to and from system 100.

The processing system 100 can also include other elements (not shown),as well as omit certain elements. For example, various other inputdevices and/or output devices can be included in processing system 100,depending upon the particular implementation of the same. For example,various types of wireless and/or wired input and/or output devices canbe used. Moreover, additional processors, controllers, memories, and soforth, in various configurations can also be utilized. It is to beappreciated that the terms processors and controllers can be usedinterchangeably herein.

FIG. 2 represents a boundary delineation map 200 generated from data(e.g., remote sensing measurements) in one or more aerial images, suchas satellite images, and/or historical planting patterns in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention. In some embodiments,satellite images can be obtained from a cadastral survey and/or a Lidarsystem, which measures distance to a target (e.g., the land) byilluminating the target with a laser light. Cadastral surveys aredocuments and/or maps which include boundaries of land ownership. Insome embodiments, the boundary delineation map 200 can be generated froma plurality of satellite images of a specific geographic area over apredetermined timespan.

The boundary delineation map 200 shows boundary delineations 201 (e.g.,solid black lines) separating a plot of land from other plots of land,which appear as polygons of various shapes and sizes. A polygon is ashape that is bounded by a finite chain of straight line segmentsclosing in a loop to form a closed shape. For example, the polygons caninclude shapes that appear to approximately resemble a rectangle,square, triangle, etc. In some embodiments, farm boundaries can bedelineated by detecting and evaluating the satellite data using athresholding algorithm. The thresholding algorithm can replace a pixelwithin the satellite image with a black pixel if the image intensity isless than some fixed predetermined value (e.g., a constant), or a whitepixel if the image intensity is greater than the predetermined value. Inareas where a similar value for pixels exist, a segmentation and/orclustering algorithm can be applied to place all pixel values in thesame category and, thus, larger areas sharing the same characteristicscan be defined to provide a boundary delineation 201. For example, anypixel within the satellite image that is greater than the predeterminedvalue is represented by a black pixel (e.g., vegetation), whereas anypixel that is greater than the predetermined value is represented by awhite pixel (e.g., water, road, etc.). The black pixels are employed toform one or more line segments, the line segments representative of aportion of the boundary delineation 201. The line segments can be usedto form one or more polygons (e.g., open and/or closed), each side ofthe polygon being representative of a boundary delineation 201.

In an embodiment, any open polygons (e.g., shapes that are notcompletely closed) within the boundary delineation map 200 are closedsuch that the boundary delineation map 200 includes multiple plots ofland (e.g., parcels). Farms may be identified as substantiallyrectangular parcels or a subset of well-defined features that, whencombined, form a substantially rectangular parcel. In some embodiments,boundary lines between rectangular parcels can include road networks;houses may be represented by smaller polygons within the rectangularparcel such that houses further identify farm boundaries. Accordingly,boundary delineations 201 can be extracted from satellite imagery andsuch information can be used to update land maps/surveys.

Now referring to FIG. 3, satellite images 302 and 304 are illustrativelydepicted. The images 302 and 304 comprise a plurality of pixels. Eachpixel of the image 302, 304 stores satellite data for the geographicarea represented by the pixel, and stores the location of the geographicarea corresponding to the pixel. The stored satellite data can includeremote sensing measurements (e.g., a normalized difference vegetationindex) detected from the geographic area in each of the pixels. Byextracting this information from the satellite data, determinations canbe made, e.g., determinations such as the presence of vegetation, typesof vegetation (e.g., crop types), similarity of crop types betweenparcels, boundary delineations, etc., as described in further detailbelow.

In an embodiment, remote sensing measurements include a normalizeddifference vegetation index (NDVI) which can be employed to identifyand/or validate boundary delineations. The NDVI is a numerical indicatorto assess whether the target (e.g., one or more areas of land) includeslive green vegetation. The NDVI can be measured using, for example,satellite remote sensors (e.g., an Advanced Very High ResolutionRadiometer (AVHRR)). In some embodiments, the NDVI value candifferentiate parcels and identify/validate boundary delineations. Forexample, the NDVI can differentiate between parcels having vegetationversus parcels that do not include vegetation, such as roadways,desserts, waterways (e.g., rivers, wetlands), etc. In some embodiments,the NDVI can further delineate farms based on uniformity of signals(e.g., spectral information) between the plurality of parcels. In anembodiment, distinct changes in the NDVI value, thermal band, ornear-infrared values between two parcels can be indicative of a boundarydelineation. For example, NDVI values corresponding to a region 306 canbe significantly different than NDVI values corresponding to a region308. Such difference in NDVI values between regions 306 and 308 can,therefore, be indicative of a boundary delineation between such regions.

Vegetation (e.g., plants) absorbs solar radiation in the spectral regionand reflects solar radiation in the near-infrared spectral region, whichcan be measured/detected using spectral reflectance measurements.Accordingly, vegetated regions and non-vegetated regions reflectdifferent signal strengths of spectral reflectance measurements whichcan be employed to identify parcels planted with the same or similarcrop type and/or boundary delineations. Similarly, vegetated regionshaving different crop types can be differentiated based on the signalstrengths of their respective spectral reflectance measurements. Thespectral reflectance measurements include ratios of the reflectedradiation over the incoming radiation in each spectral bandindividually, which can be represented by values between 0 and 1.0. Forexample, vegetation can appear relatively bright in the near-infrared.If there is much more reflected radiation in near-infrared wavelengthsthan in visible wavelengths, then the vegetation in that pixel is likelyto be dense and may contain some type of vegetation. In contrast,non-vegetated areas tend to appear dark in the near-infrared.

The image data in images 302, 304 show regions of having differentshading representative of, for example, the strength of the respectiveNDVI value, according to one embodiment. Specifically, the differentshadings represent unique NDVI values (e.g., 0 to 1.0). In anembodiment, the NDVI values in images 302, 304 can be employed toillustrate/extract distinct changes in the types of crops (e.g.,vegetation) planted on each parcel. For example, the lightly-shadedregions 306 represent areas with little to no vegetation, which may beindicative of dirt parcels, roadways, driveways, waterways, etc. Thedarker shaded regions 308 represent parcels having vegetationcorresponding to a unique NDVI value, such as corn. All pixels in images302, 304 having similar characteristics (e.g., similar and/or same NDVIvalues) is indicative of the same/similar crop types, and can beextracted to determine a total area having a specific planted crop type.For example, all pixels within region 308 can have the same/similar NDVIvalues; thus, region 308 includes the same crop type (e.g., corn).Accordingly, multiple parcels having similarly shaded regions (e.g.,darker regions 308) can be indicative of the same and/or similar croptype being present on such parcels. This is because signal strengths ofthe NDVI and/or spectral information within images 302, 304 for each ofthe parcels is similar.

In some embodiments, management practices of a particular parcel of landcan be monitored and/or extracted from images 302, 304 to further definehistorical planting patterns and/or boundary delineations. For example,the NDVI can be measured/extracted from each parcel within the image302, 304 at predetermined intervals over a period of time (e.g., everymonth for a period of ten years) to generate a historical plantingpattern particular to each parcel (e.g., geographic area). For example,image 302 can be a satellite image from a first date (e.g., May 1^(st))and image 304 can be a corresponding satellite image from a second date(e.g., July 1^(st)) during the period of time. The extracted data can bestored in, for example, memory. The NDVI can vary throughout the growingseason(s), especially as each parcel is subjected to different croptypes planted at different times of the year (e.g., crop rotation), whentilling and/or irrigation practices are commenced, and when plantingconfigurations (e.g., orientation of rows) change.

In some embodiments, adjacent parcels that exhibit similar managementpractices is indicative of parcels belonging to the same landowner. Forexample, adjacent parcels that are both irrigated, harvested, etc. atthe same time is indicative of those parcels being commonly owned. Inanother example, adjacent parcels that are planted with the same croptype at the same time and/or for an extended amount of time, which canbe identified by the NDVI value, is indicative of those parcels beingcommonly owned. In some embodiments, adjacent parcels that exhibit samedirection of planting rows is indicative of similar management practicesand/or common ownership. Management practices of each parcels can bedetermined by, for example, image comparison techniques. For example, ifsatellite data for region 306 shows horizontal planting rows and region308 shows vertical planting rows, a determination that such regions arenot commonly owned can be made by comparing the management practices ofeach parcel.

Thus, adjacent parcels exhibiting such distinctions can be identified asmultiple parcels, and boundary delineations between the adjacent parcelsand/or other parcels not exhibiting similar management practices can bedetected. Accordingly, the present invention can reconstruct and/orupdate land ownership data (e.g., ownership maps, surveys, etc.) basedon such satellite data and/or historical planting patterns, especiallythose parcels that do not have available land ownership information. Itshould be understood that while the present invention discussesembodiments which employ NDVI values, additional spectral indices, suchas soil color, plants, water, stress, etc., can be employed or incombination to identify crop types and/or boundary delineations.

Correctly identifying boundary delineations can help determine, forexample, estimated agricultural production (e.g., yield) based onplanted acreage, and such information can be employed to update landownership information which can minimize insurance fraud. As an example,assume that only half of an area of a farm was planted with crops, asdetected by satellite and/or NDVI values. Such information can becompared with an insurance claim, which may state that the whole areawas planted and destroyed, by analyzing images/information prior to theinsurance claim which demonstrates that half of the farm was not plantedat all. In another example, assume the insurance claim states that theloss was very high. Satellite imagery information can be used toindicate that the damage was localized to a small area of the land whileother parts remained undisturbed. Thus, the insurance claim can bereadjusted to reflect the reality on the ground.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a system 400 in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention is shown with respect to an operationalenvironment in which the present invention can be utilized. System 400includes a management system 402 that includes one or more processors416 and memory 410 for storing applications, modules and other data. Inone embodiment, the memory unit 410 includes a large number of memoryblocks e.g., where calculations and data analysis may be performed. Thesystem 400 can also include one or more displays 412 for viewingcontent. The display 412 permits a user to interact with the system andits components and functions. This may be facilitated by the inclusionof a user interface 414, which can include a mouse, joystick, or anyother peripheral or control to permit user interaction with the systemand/or its devices. It should be understood that the components andfunctions of the system may be represented as one or more discretesystems or workstations, or may be integrated as part of a larger systemor workstation.

System 400 is depicted as a computer-implemented system for determiningfarm boundary delineations in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention, to, for example, manage land, e.g., farmland, in amanner that maximizes crop yields and provides land ownershipinformation. By managing the conditions under which crop types areplanted and monitoring satellite data to determine boundarydelineations, those involved in farm management can maximize cropyields, thereby meeting and perhaps exceeding crop yield projections.

The system 400 receives input 404, which includes satellite data 406,e.g., aerial maps, satellite images, etc., of a target geographic area.The target geographic area can include a plurality of parcels/farms.Such maps and images can be generated from cadastral surveys provided bythe Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which is created by the U.S.Department of the Interior. Additionally, the information from suchimagery can be generated from work performed by government ornon-government agencies, individuals, and others who perform Lidarimaging. In another embodiment, the satellite data 406 can be generatedfrom additional sources, such as a direct survey of the land, remotesensing measurements, other kinds of aerial and satellite imagery,photogrammetry, radar and sonar. The satellite data 406 can include, forexample, a plurality of satellite images of a target geographic regionover a predetermined amount of time. As will be described in furtherdetail below, the system 400 analyzes the satellite data 406 todetermine boundary delineations defining parcels within the targetgeographic area.

In some embodiments, historical data 408 can be received as input 404into the system 400. Historical data 408 includes historical plantingpatterns, including crop types and associated planting schedules (e.g.,times of the year that such crops may be planted), crop rotationpatterns (e.g., rotation of specific crop types, such as corn and soy),production costs (e.g., fertilizer, seeds, etc.), historicalsupply/demand information for particular crop types, availability ofresources (e.g., seeds available on the market), etc. In addition,historical data 408 can include prior crop identifications and/or NDVIvalues for particular parcels of land over a previous period of time(e.g., ten years). In some embodiments, historical data 408 includesprior management practices of the target geographic area (e.g., tilling,irrigation, planting patterns, direction of planting rows, etc.) whichcan be used to determine boundary delineations defining parcels withinthe target geographic area.

In some embodiments, the management system 402 utilizes the satellitedata 406 and/or historical data 408 to determine crop types that shouldbe planted, taking in account historical production costs, historicalprices for crop types, and/or historical demand for crop types. Forexample, every one pound of corn requires approximately one pound offertilizer, while soybean does not require fertilizer. However, soybeanproduction can replenish the soil with appropriate nutrients, such thatthe land can produce high quality corn in future plantings. Accordingly,crop rotation patterns alternating soybean and corn can be implementedto minimize production costs (e.g., reduce fertilizer purchases) whilemaintaining a high quality product. In some embodiments, the presentinvention can identify crop rotation patterns within a particularparcel, as defined by the boundary delineations, and estimate aprobability that a particular crop may be planted. The crop rotationpatterns and/or estimated probability can be used to generate one ormore farm management plans, with crop rotation patterns, crop plantingprobability (e.g., a probability of a specific crop being planted), etc.being included in each farm management plan.

The management system 402 includes a pixel analyzer 418, boundaryidentifier 420, vegetation identifier 422, management plan generator424, and yield estimator 426. The pixel analyzer 418 receives the inputdata 404, e.g., satellite image data 406, and identifies pixelsassociated with a plurality of plots of land to be analyzed. Theboundary identifier 420 analyzes the image data (e.g., pixels) andextracts information from the satellite data 406 and/or historical data408 to generate boundary delineations between each plot of land.

In some embodiments, the satellite data 406 includes pixel values foreach pixel within each satellite image. For example, pixels can exhibitdifferent values in resolution, such as brightness, contrast and/orcolor. In color images, separate colors (e.g., red, green and bluecomponents) are specified for each pixel. For grayscale images, thepixel value can be a single number representative of the brightness ofthe pixel. As an example, a pixel value of zero can be black and a pixelvalue of 255 can be white, with values in between forming differentshades of gray. The pixel analyzer 418 can detect pixel values for eachpixel.

The boundary identifier 420 can compare adjacent pixels to determinewhether or not a boundary delineation exits. Significant changes betweentwo adjacent pixels (e.g., pixel values) can indicate a boundarydelineation between two farms. Thus, if two adjacent pixels exhibitdifferent pixel values, the boundary identifier 420 generates a boundarydelineation (e.g., a line segment) at the interface between the adjacentpixels. Each line segment can connect to an adjacent line segment toform various shapes. If the boundary delineations (e.g., one or moreline segments) form a rectangular shape or circular/oval shape, it ishighly likely that that boundary is defined by machinery that works theland or property boundaries. These newly defined boundaries can besearched in the existing traces (e.g., historical data 408) for thatparticular area that can be indicative of property boundaries.

The boundary identifier 420 generates a boundary delineation map havinga plurality of polygons (e.g., shapes) corresponding to parcels/lotsand/or other features within the satellite image. Each plot of land canappear as a polygon which is bounded by a finite chain of straight linesegments closing in a loop to form a closed shape. For example, thepolygon includes shapes that appear to approximately resemble arectangle, square, triangle, etc. Farm boundaries can be delineated byanalyzing the shapes and/or polygons. In some embodiments, the boundaryidentifier 420 closes any open polygons (e.g., shapes that are notcompletely closed) by connecting line segments with adjacent linesegments in the boundary delineation map. Farms can be identified assubstantially rectangular parcels, or a subset of well-defined featuresthat, when combined, form a substantially rectangular parcel. Forexample, if the satellite images indicate that there is no man madeconstruction present on the land (e.g., houses, barns, etc.) within adefined parcel, the whole parcel can be identified as belonging to thesame owner, and partial shapes generated in that area can be joined in alarger shape to indicate the completeness of reconstruction. If theshapes are in close proximity, such shapes can be joined. This isespecially true if reconstructed farm boundaries have irregular shapesand are adjacent to each other within the boundary of a parcel that hasa rectangular shape.

In some embodiments, the boundary identifier 420 identifies and/orvalidates boundary delineations using NDVI values. NDVI values can bestored in satellite data 406 and/or historical data 408, or can bedetected by the vegetation identifier 422, as will be described infurther detail below. NDVI values can be associated with each pixelvalue such that a satellite image includes a plurality of NDVI values.For example, a first pixel can include an NDVI value of 1 and a secondpixel, which is adjacent to the first pixel, can include an NDVI valueof 0. Thus, significant changes in the NDVI values between adjacentpixels can be employed to generate delineations between parcels of land.

The boundary identifier 420 can analyze the NDVI values and generateboundary delineations where NDVI values change/fluctuate. In anembodiment, the boundary identifier 420 can generate a boundarydelineation (e.g., a line segment) at the interface between the adjacentpixels exhibiting different NDVI values. Each line segment can connectto an adjacent line segment to form various shapes.

For example, the boundary identifier 420 can detect an NDVI value of 0(corresponding to a non-vegetated area, e.g., bare land or road) an NDVIvalue of 0.5 (corresponding to soybean), and an NDVI value of 0.8(corresponding to corn). Thus, each NDVI value can be representative ofa different parcel. The boundary identifier 420 can identify and/orvalidate boundary delineations based on the different NDVI valuesdetected. For example, the boundary identifier 420 can identify pixelshaving an NDVI value of 0 to 0.0 (e.g., no vegetation) as non-vegetatedareas, and the boundary identifier 420 can identify pixels having anNDVI value of 0.0 to 1.0 (e.g., vegetation) as vegetated areas. Thenon-vegetated areas (e.g., a road network) can be used to separateparcels. The boundary identifier 420 delineates (e.g., separates)parcels having different NDVI values and generates boundary lines in theboundary delineation map. When two or more adjacent vegetated areasinclude uniform NDVI values (e.g., the same or substantially the samevalue, a contiguous/uniform signal, etc.), the boundary identifier 420can identify the two or more adjacent vegetated areas as a single parcelunder common ownership, and the boundary identifier 420 can generateboundary lines around the two or more adjacent parcels (e.g., pixels) inthe boundary delineation map.

Similarly, management practices of parcels can be used to further defineboundary delineations. Management practices can include, for example,planting different crop types at different times of the year, tillingand/or irrigation practices, planting configurations, etc. In someembodiments, the management practices can be included in the satellitedata 406 and/or historical data 408 (e.g., previous NDVI values).Satellite image data 406 and/or historical data 408 can be extractedfrom each parcel at predetermined intervals over a period of time (e.g.,every month for a period of ten years). The data 406, 408 can be storedin memory, such as memory 410, and can be used as historical plantingpatterns. Parcels that exhibit similar management practices (e.g.,frequency of planting the same crop type, tilling, etc.) over a periodof time (e.g., ten years) is indicative of parcels belonging to the samelandowner. Thus, similar management practices can establish historicalplanting patterns, which is indicative of land under the same ownership.

For example, each satellite image of a target geographic area isassociated with a respective timestamp (e.g., calendar day-of-year,time-of-day, etc.). If adjacent parcels exhibit similar managementpractices (e.g., tilling, direction of planting rows, etc.) at the sametimestamp over a predetermined period of time, which can be included ininput data 406, 408, the boundary identifier 420 can determine that suchparcels are under common ownership.

In some embodiments, the management system 402 includes a vegetationidentifier 422. The vegetation identifier 422 employs image recognitionmethods (e.g., image comparison techniques) and/or NDVI values todetermine crop types within each of the parcels. The crop type(s) foreach parcel can be determined at predetermined intervals (e.g., everymonth), and can be stored in memory 410 as historical planting patterns.For example, vegetation identifier 422 can determine that a particularparcel, defined by one or more boundary delineations, is planted withsoybean and corn, in an alternating cycle (e.g., year 1=soybean, year2=corn, year 3=soybean, year 4=corn, etc.). The alternating cycle can bestored in memory 410 and/or be employed as historical data 408 as aplanting pattern specific to that particular parcel. In someembodiments, the vegetation identifier 422 can determine a frequency ofa particular crop type and/or planting pattern within the respectiveparcel using historical data 408. The vegetation identifier 422 canpredict a probability that a particular crop type will be planted withinsuch boundary delineation for any given year based on the historicalplanting patterns associated with that particular parcel of land. Insome embodiments, the vegetation identifier 422 uses historical data 408to determine a probability that a particular crop type will be planted.The probability may be determined prior to the planting season.

The management plan generator 424 generates one or more farm managementplans for each parcel based on the boundary delineation map, which maybe given as output 428. In some embodiments, the farm management planincludes updated boundary delineations and/or maps toreconstruct/reconfigure land ownership data. In some embodiments, thefarm management plan includes management practices (e.g., tillage, cropplanting, harvesting, etc.) conducted in similarly located areas duringa particular time of the year, such that a landowner/user can similarlymanage his/her property. In an embodiment, the farm management planincludes a probability that a certain crop type should be planted,taking in account data 406, 408 (e.g., historical production costs,historical prices for crop types, historical demand for crop types,etc.).

In some embodiments, the yield estimator 426 can estimate a totalplanted area of a particular crop type (e.g., corn) and/or agriculturalyield of a particular crop type. The estimated yield can be based on,for example, NDVI values, historical yield data, and/or amount ofacreage within the one or more parcels. In some embodiments, theestimated yield value(s) can be given as output 428. For example, theyield estimator 426 can compare NDVI values within the satelliteimage(s) to determine the total planted area and/or agricultural yieldof a particular crop. All pixels having same/similar NDVI values may beindicative of such parcels having the same crop type. The total yield ofa particular crop type can be determined my multiplying the number ofpixels having the same/similar NDVI values and pixel resolutioninformation (e.g., including acreage of such pixels). For example, pixelresolution information may include acreage information, such as theamount of acreage within a given pixel.

More than thirty years of historical data of yield estimates exists fordifferent geographies, which can be based on pixel resolution. NDVIvalues can be calculated for the regions knowing what was planted andwhere. A linear relation can be established that would provide a firstindicator of the yield before harvesting just by knowing the NDVI valuemeasured in the satellite images. In addition, other spectral indicesfrom the satellite images can be used to extract potential yield, suchas thermal bands that indicate soil temperature, spectral indices (e.g.,near infrared) sensitive to the total amount of moisture in the soil,etc. These parameters play a role in the final yield. Multipleparameters can be combined to create a multi regression where yield isdependent on NDVI, soil temperature and near infrared radiation.Furthermore, weather plays a significant role in determining the yield,since draught or excessive rain can reduce the yield. Historically,weather can be correlated for years when the yield was low to currentweather patterns to determine similarities that would indicate thepotential yield that can be obtained for a certain region. In addition,satellite data can indicate if all farms that have been planted with acrop are maintained or if they are abandoned during the season. Otherindicators of high potential yield include, for example, the number ofmachinery that is operated in the field, number of invoices to rentharvesting equipment between farmers and machine shops, the amount offertilizer that is used on the field, etc.

Referring to FIG. 5, an exemplary method 500 for determining boundarydelineations within a target geographic area, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention, is described. Part or all of method500 can be performed by system 100 of FIG. 1 and system 400 of FIG. 4.

In block 502, information associated with a target area (e.g.,geographic area of land), such as a farmland, is obtained. Theinformation can include satellite data and/or historical datacorresponding to the specific area of land (e.g., geographic area) beinganalyzed, such as satellite data 406 and/or historical data 408 shown inFIG. 4. For example, satellite data includes pixel information from oneor more satellite images. Other information that can be obtainedincludes historical planting patterns, including crop types andassociated planting schedules (e.g., times of the year that such cropsmay be planted), crop rotation patterns (e.g., rotation of specific croptypes, such as corn and soy), production costs (e.g., fertilizer, seeds,etc.), historical supply/demand information for particular crop types,availability of resources (e.g., seeds available on the market), etc. Inaddition, historical data can include crop identifications and/or NDVIvalues for particular parcels of land over a predetermined period oftime (e.g., ten years). In some embodiments, crop types can beidentified using image recognition methods (e.g., image comparisontechniques) and/or NDVI values, as shown in block 503.

In block 504, the data is evaluated using a thresholding algorithm togenerate one or more line segments between adjacent pixels. The one ormore line segments are a portion of a boundary delineation. For example,the satellite pixels can be analyzed for same characteristics, such assimilarity of NDVI, thermal or near-infrared values. Categories forthese pixels can be defined based on large scale analysis of land, wheredifferent identified crops are quantified based on mean values, standarddeviation, and variances. Once a category with a well-defined value isdefined, the pixel value from the satellite image may be associated withthat crop (e.g., crop recognition). Pixels in close proximity can beclustered based on similar characteristics, until a larger contiguousarea is defined.

In some embodiments, evaluating the data includes comparing normalizeddifference vegetation index (NDVI) values between adjacent pixels, asshown in block 506. For example, adjacent pixels having substantiallysimilar NDVI values can be grouped into a same parcel and are indicativeof a parcel of land having a same crop type. In an embodiment, adjacentpixels having different NDVI values can be separated by a line segmentand are indicative of different parcels of land having different croptypes. Accordingly, distinct changes in the NDVI values between twoparcels is indicative of a boundary delineation.

In some embodiments, evaluating the data includes comparing managementpractices, such as crop rotation patterns, between pixels. For example,adjacent pixels having similar crop rotation patterns can be groupedinto a same parcel and are indicative of a parcel of land having commonownership. In an embodiment, adjacent pixels having different croprotation patterns can be separated by a line segment and are indicativeof different parcels of land. Accordingly, distinct changes and/orsimilarities in management practices between two parcels is indicativeof a boundary delineation.

In block 508, the method 500 includes connecting the one or more linesegments to an adjacent line segment to form a boundary delineationdefining at least one land parcel within the target area. The at leastone land parcel can be represented as a closed loop and/or closedpolygon that approximately resembles a rectangle, square, triangle, etc.A boundary delineation map can be generated including the boundarydelineation in block 510.

In block 512, the method 500 includes updating landowner ship data usingthe boundary delineation map. For example, previous landownershipinformation, including boundary delineations and/or property lines, canbe updated with the boundary delineation map generated in block 510. Ifthe boundary delineations in the boundary delineation map are largerthan farm boundaries (as extracted from previous identified boundarycontours and stored in a database), the previous farm boundaries arecropped to shapes that reflect typical values in that area, asrepresented in the boundary delineation map. These cropped shapes may berepresentative of the updated landownership values and define new farmboundary contours that can be used to update existing databases.

In block 514, a farm management plan can be generated for each parcel.The farm management plan includes updated boundary delineations and/ormaps to reconstruct/reconfigure land ownership data. In someembodiments, the management plan includes management practices (e.g.,tillage, crop planting, harvesting, etc.) conducted in similarly locatedareas during a particular time of the year, such that a landowner/usercan similarly manage his/her property. In an embodiment, the managementplan includes a probability that a certain crop type should be planted,taking in account historical data (e.g., crop rotational patterns,historical planting patterns, historical production costs, historicalprices for crop types, historical demand for crop types, etc.). Forexample, new recommendations can be made regarding management practices(e.g., application of fertilizer, planting of a particular crop types,etc.) based on a deviation of the NDVI values compared with a mean valueextracted from farms in close proximity. In some embodiments, generatingthe management plan includes estimating agricultural yield based on, forexample, NDVI values, historical yield data and/or amount of plantedacreage within the one or more parcels.

Farm boundary delineation and crop determination in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention offers several advantages. Forexample, land ownership databases can be updated to reflect moreaccurate boundary delineations, which are especially important for areasthat are not publically available. Further, yield production can beestimated based on a total amount of planted crops and/or plantedacreage so that the crop yields for the entire farm may be maximized.

While the present disclosure includes a detailed description on cloudcomputing, it should be understood that implementation of the subjectmatter described herein is not limited to a cloud computing environment.Rather, embodiments of the present invention are capable of beingimplemented in conjunction with any other type of computing environmentnow known or later developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email). Theconsumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructureincluding network, servers, operating systems, storage, or evenindividual application capabilities, with the possible exception oflimited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting for loadbalancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a schematic of an example of a cloud computingnode 610 is shown. Cloud computing node 610 is only one example of asuitable cloud computing node and is not intended to suggest anylimitation as to the scope of use or functionality of embodiments of theinvention described herein. Regardless, cloud computing node 610 iscapable of being implemented and/or performing any of the functionalityset forth hereinabove.

In cloud computing node 610 there is a computer system/server 612, whichis operational with numerous other general purpose or special purposecomputing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-knowncomputing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may besuitable for use with computer system/server 612 include, but are notlimited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thinclients, thick clients, handheld or laptop devices, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmableconsumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframecomputer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments thatinclude any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

Computer system/server 612 may be described in the general context ofcomputer system executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer system. Generally, program modules may includeroutines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures, and soon that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes. Computer system/server 612 may be practiced in distributed cloudcomputing environments where tasks are performed by remote processingdevices that are linked through a communications network. In adistributed cloud computing environment, program modules may be locatedin both local and remote computer system storage media including memorystorage devices.

As shown in FIG. 6, computer system/server 612 in cloud computing node610 is shown in the form of a general-purpose computing device. Thecomponents of computer system/server 612 may include, but are notlimited to, one or more processors or processing units 616, a systemmemory 628, and a bus 618 that couples various system componentsincluding system memory 628 to processor 616.

Bus 618 represents one or more of any of several types of busstructures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and notlimitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture(ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA)bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, andPeripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus.

Computer system/server 612 typically includes a variety of computersystem readable media. Such media may be any available media that isaccessible by computer system/server 612, and it includes both volatileand non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media.

System memory 628 can include computer system readable media in the formof volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) 630 and/or cachememory 632. Computer system/server 612 may further include otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storagemedia. By way of example only, storage system 634 can be provided forreading from and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media(not shown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, amagnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable,non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical diskdrive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile opticaldisk such as a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided.In such instances, each can be connected to bus 618 by one or more datamedia interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below,memory 628 may include at least one program product having a set (e.g.,at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry out thefunctions of embodiments of the invention.

Program/utility 640, having a set (at least one) of program modules 642,may be stored in memory 628 by way of example, and not limitation, aswell as an operating system, one or more application programs, otherprogram modules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one ormore application programs, other program modules, and program data orsome combination thereof, may include an implementation of a networkingenvironment. Program modules 642 generally carry out the functionsand/or methodologies of embodiments of the invention as describedherein.

Computer system/server 612 may also communicate with one or moreexternal devices 614 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a display624, etc.; one or more devices that enable a user to interact withcomputer system/server 612; and/or any devices (e.g., network card,modem, etc.) that enable computer system/server 612 to communicate withone or more other computing devices. Such communication can occur viaInput/Output (I/O) interfaces 622. Still yet, computer system/server 612can communicate with one or more networks such as a local area network(LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g.,the Internet) via network adapter 620. As depicted, network adapter 620communicates with the other components of computer system/server 612 viabus 618. It should be understood that although not shown, other hardwareand/or software components could be used in conjunction with computersystem/server 612. Examples include, but are not limited to: microcode,device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays,RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 7, illustrative cloud computing environment 750 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 750 comprises one ormore cloud computing nodes 710 with which local computing devices usedby cloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant(PDA) or cellular telephone 754A, desktop computer 754B, laptop computer754C, and/or automobile computer system 754N may communicate. Nodes 710may communicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown)physically or virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private,Community, Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or acombination thereof. This allows cloud computing environment 750 tooffer infrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which acloud consumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 754A-Nshown in FIG. 7 are intended to be illustrative only and that computingnodes 710 and cloud computing environment 750 can communicate with anytype of computerized device over any type of network and/or networkaddressable connection (e.g., using a web browser).

FIG. 8 shows a set of functional abstraction layers provided by cloudcomputing environment 750. It should be understood in advance that thecomponents, layers, and functions shown in FIG. 8 are intended to beillustrative only and embodiments of the invention are not limitedthereto. As depicted, the following layers and corresponding functionsare provided:

Hardware and software layer 860 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include mainframes, in oneexample IBM® zSeries® systems; RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer)architecture based servers, in one example IBM pSeries® systems; IBMxSeries® systems; IBM BladeCenter® systems; storage devices; networksand networking components. Examples of software components includenetwork application server software, in one example IBM WebSphere®application server software; and database software, in one example IBMDB2® database software. (IBM, zSeries, pSeries, xSeries, BladeCenter,WebSphere, and DB2 are trademarks of International Business MachinesCorporation registered in many jurisdictions worldwide).

Virtualization layer 862 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers;virtual storage; virtual networks, including virtual private networks;virtual applications and operating systems; and virtual clients.

In one example, management layer 864 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning provides dynamic procurement of computingresources and other resources that are utilized to perform tasks withinthe cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing provide costtracking as resources are utilized within the cloud computingenvironment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management providescloud computing resource allocation and management such that requiredservice levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planning andfulfillment provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of, cloudcomputing resources for which a future requirement is anticipated inaccordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 866 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation; software development and lifecycle management; virtualclassroom education delivery; data analytics processing; transactionprocessing; and boundary delineation and crop determination.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” ofthe present invention, as well as other variations thereof, means that aparticular feature, structure, characteristic, and so forth described inconnection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment ofthe present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrase “in oneembodiment” or “in an embodiment”, as well any other variations,appearing in various places throughout the specification are notnecessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

It is to be appreciated that the use of any of the following “/”,“and/or”, and “at least one of”, for example, in the cases of “A/B”, “Aand/or B” and “at least one of A and B”, is intended to encompass theselection of the first listed option (A) only, or the selection of thesecond listed option (B) only, or the selection of both options (A andB). As a further example, in the cases of “A, B, and/or C” and “at leastone of A, B, and C”, such phrasing is intended to encompass theselection of the first listed option (A) only, or the selection of thesecond listed option (B) only, or the selection of the third listedoption (C) only, or the selection of the first and the second listedoptions (A and B) only, or the selection of the first and third listedoptions (A and C) only, or the selection of the second and third listedoptions (B and C) only, or the selection of all three options (A and Band C). This may be extended, as readily apparent by one of ordinaryskill in this and related arts, for as many items listed.

Having described preferred embodiments of a system and method fordetermining boundary delineations (which are intended to be illustrativeand not limiting), it is noted that modifications and variations can bemade by persons skilled in the art in light of the above teachings. Itis therefore to be understood that changes may be made in the particularembodiments disclosed which are within the scope of the invention asoutlined by the appended claims. Having thus described aspects of theinvention, with the details and particularity required by the patentlaws, what is claimed and desired protected by Letters Patent is setforth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for improving farmmanagement by determining farm boundary delineations within a targetgeographic area based on crop recognition, comprising: extracting datafrom pixels of at least one satellite image of the target geographicalarea and evaluating the data using a classification algorithm togenerate one or more line segments at an interface separating each pixelin at least one pair of adjacent pixels, the one or more line segmentsbeing representative of a portion of a boundary delineation; connectingthe one or more line segments to an adjacent line segment to form aboundary delineation; generating a boundary delineation map includingthe boundary delineation; and generating a farm management planincluding the boundary delineation map and a recommended crop type, thefarm management plan being generated based on at least a type ofvegetation present.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data includesa plurality of remote sensing measurements detected from the targetgeographic area.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality ofremote sensing measurements includes normalized difference vegetationindex (NDVI) values.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein evaluating thedata includes comparing NDVI values of at least two adjacent pixels. 5.The method of claim 4, further comprising grouping the at least twoadjacent pixels in a same parcel when the NDVI values of the at leasttwo adjacent pixels are substantially similar.
 6. The method of claim 4,further comprising separating the at least two adjacent pixels by a linesegment when the NDVI values of the at least two adjacent pixels aresubstantially different.
 7. The method of claim 4, further comprisingupdating land ownership databases with the boundary delineation map. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating the data includes evaluatinghistorical data from a plurality of satellite images over apredetermined timespan, the historical data being selected from thegroup consisting of historical planting patterns, crop rotationpatterns, management practices, and a series of NDVI values for eachpixel in the plurality of satellite images during the predeterminedtimespan.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein evaluating the dataincludes: comparing the crop rotation patterns of at least two adjacentpixels; and grouping the at least two adjacent pixels in a same parcelwhen the crop rotation patterns of the at least two adjacent pixels arethe same.
 10. The method of claim 8, further comprising estimating aprobability of a crop type being planted based on the crop rotationpatterns.
 11. A system for improving farm management by determining farmboundary delineations within a target geographic area based on croprecognition, comprising: memory storing computer code and data; one ormore inputs through which data for the target geographic area isreceived by the system, the data being extracted from pixels of at leastone satellite image of the target geographic area; and one or moreprocessors coupled to memory, the one or more processors executingcomputer code instructing the one or more processors to operate as: ananalyzer to evaluate the data using a classification algorithm togenerate one or more line segments at an interface separating each pixelin at least one pair of adjacent pixels, the one or more line segmentsbeing representative of a portion of a boundary delineation; and aboundary identifier to connect the one or more line segments to anadjacent line segment to form a boundary delineation, and generate aboundary delineation map including the boundary delineation; and a farmmanagement plan generator to generate a farm management plan includingthe boundary delineation map and a recommended crop type, the farmmanagement plan being generated based on at least a type of vegetationpresent.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the data includesnormalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values detected from thetarget geographic area.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the analyzerevaluates the data by comparing NDVI values of at least two adjacentpixels.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the boundary identifiergroups the at least two adjacent pixels in a same parcel when the NDVIvalues of the at least two adjacent pixels are substantially similar.15. The system of claim 13, wherein the boundary identifier separatesthe at least two adjacent pixels by a line segment when the NDVI valuesof the at least two adjacent pixels are substantially different.
 16. Acomputer program product for improving farm management by determiningfarm boundary delineations within a target geographic area based on croprecognition, the computer program product comprising a non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium having program instructions embodiedtherewith, the program instructions being executable by a computer tocause the computer to perform a method comprising: extracting data frompixels of at least one satellite image of the target geographical areaand evaluating the data using a classification algorithm to generate oneor more line segments at an interface separating each pixel in at leastone pair of adjacent pixels, the one or more line segments beingrepresentative of a portion of a boundary delineation; connecting theone or more line segments to an adjacent line segment to form a boundarydelineation; generating a boundary delineation map including theboundary delineation; and generating a farm management plan includingthe boundary delineation map and a recommended crop type, the farmmanagement plan being generated based on at least a type of vegetationpresent.
 17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the dataincludes normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values detectedfrom the target geographic area.
 18. The computer program product ofclaim 17, wherein evaluating the data includes comparing NDVI values ofat least two adjacent pixels.
 19. The computer program product of claim18, further comprising grouping the at least two adjacent pixels in asame parcel when the NDVI values of the at least two adjacent pixels aresubstantially similar.
 20. The computer program product of claim 16,further comprising separating the at least two adjacent pixels by a linesegment when the NDVI values of the at least two adjacent pixels aresubstantially different.